New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte found herself in an unusual place last weekend: alongside the Manchester Police Department while they conducted patrols.

From traffic stops to bail arrests, Ayotte joined fellow Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Gov. Maggie Hassan for the ride along in an effort to learn more first-hand about what New Hampshire’s police officers see every day.

The state’s drug problem was on full display during the weekend as the politicians witnessed a man in critical condition get transported to the hospital after nearly overdosing on what is believed to be heroin.

US Senator Kelly Ayotte did a ride along with MPD on Saturday beginning with Roll Call at 3:30 and then hit the streets.

The first was a traffic stop, the second an arrest for bail conditions, and the third was potential fatal overdose on Manchester’s East Side. MFD, AMR, and MPD responded to an aprox 30 year old male not breathing and no pulse.

When on scene they began CPR and administered Narcan. After approx 15 minutes the person was transported to the Elliot in critical condition.

Manchester PD also brought the pols to the sites of recent drug arrests.

MPD Chief Willard and Sgt Brandon Murphy took a large group on a tour of recent drug arrests.

144 Lake Ave was on address which had two competing drug operations, but due to the demand they both co-existed without the normal violence.

A Central Street address within the sight lines of 144 Lake Ave was another drug operation.

We learned that these operations involved people from New York City. Officials explained the drug market is so strong it is attracting operations from NY and Mexico. Drug prices in NH result in profits 2 to 3 times higher than Mass and other big cities, attracting more dealers.

It was also explained that in many of the operations now they are recruiting addicts to make the actual drug transactions to avoid prosecution of the “king pins”. The addicts are usually paid in drugs vs cash. We learned that any given time there are multiple look outs doing counter surveillance detecting investigators.

A Senate U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing was held today at St. Anslem College to discuss the state’s drug epidemic.